News Summary

AI startup Perplexity has made an unsolicited bid of $34.5 billion to acquire Google’s Chrome browser. This offer is significantly higher than the company’s valuation of $18 billion and comes amid legal scrutiny over Google’s alleged monopoly in the search market. The U.S. court is considering whether Google should be forced to sell Chrome, and Perplexity’s bid demonstrates that a serious buyer exists if a sale is mandated. Perplexity, which recently launched its own browser Comet, intends to keep the Chromium open-source and maintain Google as the default search engine, while also promising to invest $3 billion over two years. The move highlights the strategic importance of browser control in the AI search race.